New Beginnings
by happypinkfairy
Summary: Inspired by Jessica's initial explanation to Bella about the Cullens, this looks at how the Cullens were received by Forks, and particularly by Jessica, Lauren and friends, when they arrived, two years before Bella.
1. Jessica's First Day

Here we go - we start in Jessica's head! Chapters are short, but there are plenty of them - we're going to go into various people's heads!

I've tried to Americanise my writing as much as possible – hopefully it isn't too clunky!! I hope I got the American school system okay – things are different in the UK, so I had to improvise a bit!

Thanks to my amazing beta, Amanda, for her encouragement! And for not minding being bombarded with new chapters and new re-writes!

DISCLAIMER: All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer – I'm just playing with them!

********************

I rummaged through my closet again. No matter what my Dad said, I had _nothing_ to wear and I was determined to find something suitable. It was the first day of high school after the long summer break, and I needed to make an impression. The right _sort _of impression. What made things even better was that gossip was circling about the new family that had just moved to the outskirts of the town. Rumour had it that a large group had moved in, including five young people who would be going to Forks High School. Mom always knew everything that was going on in Forks; it was really useful. Plus, it meant I got to share stuff with people; I _loved_ being the first to get news.

I looked out the window briefly to check the weather; I didn't really need to bother. It was the same as it always is in Forks – sorta cold, kinda drizzly and really grey.

Glancing back into my closet, I saw a short denim skirt that had been buried at the back of the wardrobe. I had never worn it – Dad said it was 'unsuitable' for middle school. But high school was a different matter entirely. It would show off a large amount of leg, but that had to be a good thing. When you were as short as I was, you needed to show off everything you had. I pulled a pink jumper from a shelf and held the combination up against myself. Perfect. It was cute, yet sexy; revealing but still with a hint of that girl-next-door look that Forks guys seemed to like so much. I rolled my eyes. Perhaps this would be my year to catch someone's eye. I really hoped so. My mum reassured me that I was young and beautiful, and that guys were just too nervous to ask me out, but I wasn't so sure. They all seemed to like Lauren; I couldn't really see the difference between us.

I pouted into the mirror and sighed. Lauren was my best friend, but she always seemed to be ahead of me in everything; first one to get boobs, first one to start her periods, first one to be kissed, first one to get a steady boyfriend. Not that Lauren ever kept them for long. She reckoned that middle school was too early to be tied down to one guy. I suspected that she would come to the same conclusion about high school.

***

Mom welcomed me into the kitchen with a stack of pancakes.

'Jessica, honey!' she trilled. 'You look _so_ beautiful!'

I smiled happily. 'Thanks, Mom,' I replied. 'I found this skirt in the back of my closet. Isn't it cute?'

Mom nodded vigorously. I could always count on her for support. 'Come and have some pancakes.'

'No, thanks.' I shook my head. I couldn't possibly eat. I was too nervous.

'But it's your first day of high school! You should eat something,' she pressed. I had been hoping she wouldn't be difficult.

'I think I bunch of us are going to get something together before school starts; you know, to celebrate being freshmen,' I lied smoothly. Sometimes mothers didn't need to know everything. 'Angela said her mom has made us blueberry muffins for today.'

My mother smiled and nodded. 'Okay, sugarplum, I'll get my things and take you to school. I can't believe how grown up you are!' Moisture pricked in the corner of her eyes and I winced internally; I did not need her mascara running all over my carefully chosen outfit.

'Come on, Mom. Let's go.'

***

We pulled up outside the front gates and I jumped out of the car, grabbing my bag from the back seat.

'See you later, Mom!' I called as I spotted Lauren heading through the gates. I made a beeline for her and gave Mom a quick wave as she pulled away, looking teary eyed again.

'Hi, Jess!' squealed Lauren, stopping to wait for me and striking a provocative pose. I wondered, not for the first time, if she did it on purpose, or it was an unconscious move on her part. 'I can't believe we're in high school! High school boys are so _cute_!'

As she said that, her gaze followed two guys who were pulling through the gates in a battered old car. They were clearly juniors, or possibly even seniors. I smiled to myself. Trust Lauren to fixate on the first older guys she saw.

'Mmm,' I murmured noncommittally. She didn't seem to notice my lack of enthusiasm. 'We should probably go. My mom said we had to report to the main office first and get our stuff.'

Lauren nodded and we set off through the parking lot. She was checking out guys left, right and centre and I rolled my eyes. The summer hadn't changed her one bit.

We arrived at the main building and joined the small queue that was snaking out of the door. My heart lurched slightly as I saw the guy in front of us. Mike Newton had grown up a little over the summer and was still incredibly cute. He turned round as we approached and gave us a wide grin. I smiled back shyly while Lauren gave him a full, toothy grin; why couldn't I ever be as outgoing as she was in front of boys?

'Hey! Lauren, Jessica!' Mike greeted us with enthusiasm. 'How are you? Did you have good summers?'

I nodded as Lauren launched into a full blown account of her summer. I knew this wouldn't be the first time today that I would hear the story so I tuned her out as much as possible.

We had spoken to the secretary, got our timetables and were loitering outside the main office when I saw them. There were five of them and they were all so _beautiful_ that I gasped out loud.

'What?' asked Lauren. I pointed, unable to speak. She followed my finger and her mouth dropped open. She flicked her hair and I giggled. She had such a one-track mind.

There were three guys and two girls. One of the guys was big and muscular, and I shrank away from him instinctively. He scared me, but he was still attractive. He was walking next to a girl who made my insides shrivel up with jealousy; she was tall, statuesque, with an amazing body and long, blonde hair that hung down to her waist. It was rippling in the faint breeze and I saw more than one guy stop to stare. The other girl was tiny; as short as me but a lot thinner, almost ill-looking. She had very short, spiky black hair and a wide smile which showed off a set of perfect, sparkling white teeth. She walked, looking like a supermodel, next to a very tall guy with blonde hair. He scared me too. Something about the set of his jaw frightened me. He looked as if you wouldn't want to mess with him, even though he wasn't as brawny as the other guy. The final guy was sauntering, looking bored, behind the other two couples, so it took me a moment to fix my eyes on him. He had tousled hair in an unusual shade of bronze and his face was so pale and beautiful that it made my stomach ache. In fact, they were all incredibly pale and beautiful. I stared, gobsmacked, as they walked by, pushing past us into the main office.

I couldn't help but wonder where they had come from; how did five people who were all so striking end up in one family? They didn't seem to have any similarities, other than that. Though the blonde boy and girl looked as if they could be related. They all looked much too old to be in school, too. Apart from perhaps the bronze haired boy. My stomach jolted with excitement as I realised that he could be in some of my classes. Today was turning out to be a very good day.


	2. Alice's First Day

Awww… I love being in Alice's head. It's so much fun!

I've tried to Americanise my writing as much as possible – hopefully it isn't too clunky!! I hope I got the American school system okay – things are different in the UK, so I had to improvise a bit!

Thanks to my amazing beta, Amanda, for her encouragement! And for not minding being bombarded with new chapters and new re-writes!

DISCLAIMER: All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer – I'm just playing with them!

***************

Edward looked so bored by the whole idea of starting high school again, that I couldn't help but giggle.

_It won't be so bad, Edward._ I thought, smiling across the room at him. He grimaced at me in reply. _Seriously, it won't. I know these things!_ He smiled and rolled his eyes at my little inside joke and cocked his head to the side slightly. That was our little code for 'elaborate please'. We were excellent at these silent conversations.

_It won't be very exciting, but then, is high school ever? But it'll be okay. Nothing major will happen and there'll just be the usual stuff about our arrival. You'll be the lucky recipient of all that stuff about us!_

I grinned again and Edward sighed out loud.

'What's the matter, Edward?' asked Esme with concern. As if she didn't know.

'Freshman year of high school? _Again?_' Edward asked it like a question, but we all knew what he really meant.

'Edward,' Esme chastised gently. 'You know that the younger you play, the longer we can stay.'

'You're a poet and you didn't know it,' rhymed Emmett with a grin. 'Aww, come on Edward, it'll be fun. Lots more human minds to play around in!'

I shook my head. Emmett had a strange view of the world.

'I assume you just can't wait to start pretending you're distinctly average at gym,' said Edward acerbically.

Emmett beamed. 'I sure can't!' I never understood Emmett's way of thinking. I wondered if Edward had any more of an idea than me, seeing as he had more of an insight into Emmett than the rest of us did.

Edward smiled across the room at me. 'Nope, I'm pretty much clueless too,' he commented, directing his remark to me. He had obviously been eavesdropping in my head again.

Rosalie tutted disapprovingly. 'Edward, it's rude to have private conversations in public places.'

'It's also rude to eavesdrop on your sister's innermost thoughts,' I added, smiling cheekily. Edward grinned back; the first real smile I'd seen him produce in the last couple of days. It was nice to see. It always brought my mood down a little when my favourite brother was depressed. Which was happening more and more frequently nowadays. He hadn't played his piano in months and months.

'You'd better be going,' said Carlisle as he entered the room and surveyed us all lounging around on the sofa. 'School starts in twenty minutes and you need to get registered. I've called ahead, so they're expecting you, and they know our story.'

'Should we run over the cover story one more time?' asked Esme, slightly anxiously.

Rosalie rolled her eyes. 'We all have perfect recall! I'm pretty sure we can remember it.'

'Rosalie,' chastised Carlisle. 'It can't do any harm. And because you know it so well, you can remind us all.' He smiled at Rosalie in a manner that I would have said constituted triumph, if it had come from anyone except Carlisle.

'We moved here from Alaska over the summer,' droned Rosalie. 'You are a doctor, who will be working at Forks Medical Centre, trying not to kill any of your patients, and Esme is your wife. You adopted Edward, Emmett and Alice several years ago. Jasper and I are twins and Esme is our aunt. We have lived with her since we were eight. Emmett, Jasper and I will be joining Forks High School as sophomores, even though we look like we should be in college, and Edward and Alice will be freshmen.' She finished and glared at Carlisle. 'Happy?'

He smiled gently. 'Yes, thank you, Rosalie. Very well put. Although you could probably have conveyed it just as excellently without the sarcastic commentary.'

Rosalie glared at him again and I giggled under my breath. It was funny to watch Rosalie get cross with Carlisle; she rarely challenged him with any real seriousness; she had too much respect for him, as did we all. It was rather like watching a dog growl at a wolf; it may not like what the wolf is doing, but it is far too scared to actually do anything about it, unless seriously provoked.

Edward burst out laughing. He had be eavesdropping again. I rolled my eyes at him.

'Come on,' said Esme, happy to see Edward in better spirits. 'I'll drive you to school.'

Edward sobered up very quickly; he hated not being able to drive himself, but his fictitious current age of 15 meant that he wouldn't be allowed to drive for another couple of years.

We piled into the Volvo and set off for school. I hoped that this would be the first year of as many as possible in Forks.

***

Forks High School was an unusual place. Instead of one big building, it was made up of several small huts, each with a large number painted on them. Esme dropped us off in front of the gate and we headed towards the building with a small number of people gathered outside it.

I barely glanced at anyone around us and instead fell into step next to Jasper. I smiled encouragingly at him. He grimaced back. He was going to find it so hard today with so many humans in such close quarters. I squeezed his hand briefly and then dropped it, not wanting to draw attention to our relationship. In a place as small a Forks, a house in which three couples lived would not go down too well. Especially when two of those couples were pretending to be students at the local high school.

Behind me, I heard Edward growl gently under his breath. Poor Edward would be listening to the reactions of people around us as we entered the school for the first time. And from what he had told us on previous occasions, it would not make particularly enjoyable listening. There was only so many times you could hear people react with both lust and fear to your presence. And for Edward it was always particularly difficult when people found out that he was the only single one among us; those who weren't terrified by his very existence were filled with thoughts that are intended only for the person thinking them; generally, not something you want to hear about yourself.

I turned briefly and smiled at Edward, hoping to lift his mood. He stared blankly back at me and I sighed. It was going to be a long few years.

In the office, Jasper took charge. 'We are the Cullens,' he said, indicating Emmett, Edward and myself. 'And the Hales.' He gestured at Rosalie and then himself. 'Our father, Carlisle, called about us.'

The secretary looked flustered. 'Umm, yes, of course. I have your documents right here.' She fumbled in a tray for some pieces of paper. Jasper looked incredibly frustrated at her slowness, but I was so proud of him for speaking to her. It must be difficult; her smell, although not the nicest of human scents that I'd ever smelt, permeated the office, making the air heavy with the tempting aroma of human blood.

'So, err, Edward and Alice Cullen?' I stepped forwards, tugging on Edward's shirt sleeve. He was more than a little reluctant. I smiled at her, trying to put her at ease. 'Yes, err, so, ummm,' she stammered. I suspected that I had been a little friendlier than necessary. Edward chuckled under his breath, too quietly for human ears. I had been right.

'So, you two will find that things are quite easy for you, as every freshman is new. There is a system in place for the day. Everything is written down for you, and your schedules are here.' She thrust a sheaf of papers towards us and I took them from her, taking care not to brush her skin with my cold hand, smiling gently.

'Umm, the other three; Emmett Cullen and Jasper and Rosalie Hale. You will need to get these slips of paper signed in each class you go to and bring them back at the end of the day. One for each of you, and schedules too.' She handed another, slightly larger pile of papers to Jasper.

'The buildings are clearly marked, but there are maps for each of you, if you need them. Have a nice day!'

I couldn't quite work out whether she was desperate to see us leave or not. There was no doubt in my mind that we had intimidated her a little more than intended. It could hardly be helped; we were designed to frighten our prey.

'Edward, we have almost exactly the same timetable!' I said happily after scanning the papers in my hand for a second. We could relieve each other's boredom slightly if we were in the same classes; Edward always appreciated distractions from the tedious material.

He smiled grimly. 'Can't wait,' he said mockingly. I knew better than to be offended. It wasn't me he was cross at. But I couldn't help but wonder what was going through his mind. What exactly had him so irritated?


	3. Edward's First Day

I find Edward very easy to write – I love the way he thinks and speaks – he's very eloquent. Of course, the things that he's thinking and speaking are hard to work out at times! I hope I've captured him well. :-)

I've tried to Americanise my writing as much as possible – hopefully it isn't too clunky!! I hope I got the American school system okay – things are different in the UK, so I had to improvise a bit!

Thanks to my amazing beta, Amanda, for her encouragement! And for not minding being bombarded with new chapters and new re-writes!

DISCLAIMER: All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer – I'm just playing with them!

***************

I grimaced as Alice skipped gracefully across the grass towards our first class. We had spent a tedious hour listening to the principal drone about what was expected of us at Forks High School. I had heard the speech hundreds of times at high schools and colleges across the country. I had tuned him out with ease, but it had meant I ended up browsing the minds of the students around me. They were almost as tedious and predictable as the speech that I was ignoring. Although I was glad to note that there were no real questions about us that could cause any problems.

A pair of girls, who had been watching me for the past hour, followed us towards the English building.

_Oooh, he is _so _gorgeous. Look at that _ass_!_ I heard one of them think. I wasn't sure which, without turning around, but she seemed to be the slightly less malicious of the two girls. The other one was thinking things about me that I was disgusted to hear. She had spent most of the principal's address analysing the physical attributes of every boy in the room and then the dress sense and competition posed to her by all the girls. She had been particularly nasty about a few of them. It seemed middle school grudges did not melt away at the gates of high school in Forks.

I sighed, almost inaudibly and followed Alice through the door that she was holding open for me. I held the door long enough to get through it, and then let it swing on its hinges, slamming shut and missing one of the girls behind us by inches. I smiled, satisfied. Perhaps I could take her down a peg or two.

_Edward!_ Alice reprimanded me in her thoughts. _That wasn't nice. You could have hurt her._

Taking a place next to her at the back of the classroom, I muttered out of the corner of my mouth; the teacher hadn't started the class yet, but it couldn't hurt to give a good first impression.

'Believe me,' I told Alice, far too low and quick for any human ears to pick up. 'She deserves it. You didn't hear her mind during that talk by the principal. She is a horrible excuse for a human being.'

Alice giggled. _You mean she's a typical teenage girl?_

I shook my head emphatically. 'Nope, this one is something special. The one she's with; she's a normal teenage girl. Slightly bitchy, obsessed with what everyone, especially guys, thinks of her, and very, very self centred.'

Alice giggled again. _Aww, Edward, you're mean about the poor humans. They can't help it._

'Yes, they can. But they just choose not to. I can't…' I broke off abruptly. Mr Mason had started the class and I turned my attention towards him. I was interested, if only for a moment, to see which books I would be forced to study _again_.

'Here is a book list, please take one and pass it back. They are written down in the order we will study them.'

I glanced at the list. Same old, same old. Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Brontë, Steinbeck. Nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing I hadn't already read. I sighed.

_Stop sighing, Edward. You're going to blow the class out the back wall._ Alice's voice entered my consciousness.

I couldn't understand what had me so dejected. I suspected it was another new place, another group of new people, another round of false stories and made up lives. This move really had me down. Maybe it was because we had already lived in Forks. Or maybe it was just because I was really bored with eternity. I had no idea.

Esme was convinced that there was something wrong with my genetic makeup. She thought that my unhappiness stemmed from my inability to find a soul mate; the theory put forward by every happily married person who believes that you are incomplete until you find 'that special someone'. I didn't feel like I was missing out. Sometimes it was hard to live with three happily married couples, but on the whole it didn't bother me. I was happy alone. I was never going to find another vampire who could interest me. I could live with that.

_I wonder if he likes me? Stupid question! I wonder if I should ask him out, or wait for him to ask me._ The thoughts intruded, uninvited, into my mind. I scanned the class surreptitiously. It was one of the girls that had followed myself and Alice into the English class. I recognised the tone of the voice and groaned inwardly. The bitchy one. But I was intrigued as to what she might be thinking. I found her apparent obsession with me quite amusing. I was really, _really_ bored.

_I suppose I could ask him. But what if he said no? No one ever says no to you, Lauren! I'll wait a little while though. Just to see. Just in case he likes Jessica or someone. _She burst into peals of unkind laughter in her head.

Lauren. That was her name. And her thoughts were as inane, vicious and predictable as almost every other human I had the misfortune to hear. My mind wandered around the room.

_He is so cute! I bet he goes for Lauren though. All guys go for Lauren,_ one mind thought, the negative tone apparent a mile away. This seemed to be the other girl that had followed us in. I guessed she must be Jessica.

_I wonder if we'll have to do a lot of essays. _ A boy in front of me obviously didn't have much confidence in his intellectual capabilities.

_I think the twins would like to go to the beach soon, before it gets more wintery. I think Dad said we were going to get nice weather next weekend. Maybe we could have a family day trip._

I managed a half-smile. That was a relatively relaxing mind to be in. She seemed nice.

_Edward!_ Alice called. _What are you doing? You look like you're really concentrating on something._

I nodded and tapped the side of my head covertly. Alice smiled.

_Could you check on Jasper for me? See how he's doing? He seemed to be struggling this morning._ I inclined my head briefly and let my mind search through the school. It didn't take me long to pick out the distinctive mind of my brother. Vampire minds were very different to human ones. More complex and a lot less trivial. Usually, anyway; Rosalie was the most trivial person, vampire or human, I had ever met.

_Such a small room. So many humans. The _smell!_ It's too much. I have to do something. No, I can't. I don't want to upset Alice._

Poor Jasper was having a difficult time. I turned to Alice and shrugged my shoulders slightly. She winced.

_Really bad?_ I shook my head.

'He's coping,' I whispered. Alice smiled, satisfied, knowing that she could hope for no more. Jasper was still adjusting, even after all this time. Alice was the only reason he stuck with it; he would do anything for her.

Mr Mason dismissed the class and I moved from my seat as quickly as I could, while still maintaining the human façade. Alice followed me outside, mentally worrying about Jasper. I gave her a reassuring smile.

'He won't do anything that could put us at risk, Alice. He cares too much about you,' I told her.

'Thanks, Edward. That helps. But I still worry about him. After all this time…' She tailed off and I didn't need to read her thoughts to know what she meant. It was taking a long time for Jasper to adjust because of his background; he had feasted on human blood for so many years, it was like a meat-lover being forced to eat nothing but cabbage for the rest of his life. I couldn't help but pity him; it couldn't be easy.

***

The day dragged immeasurably. I found myself in the cafeteria, staring at my plate, wondering how I was supposed to put up with this for another four years.

We had all decided to purchase human food and hope that no one looked at us long enough to notice that no one was eating. Although on a day when we were the most interesting thing happening in the school, that seemed an unlikely occurrence.

'Any problems?' asked Emmett cheerfully.

'No. We're a source of interest, but there are no real queries at the moment. We're still new and shiny. People are either scared witless of us - especially you, Emmett,' I added, knowing it would please him. He grinned. 'Or very attracted to us. And scared witless.'

Emmett chuckled. 'Quite right too. We are very scary. Especially Alice,' he joked. She grinned at him.

'Hey, never underestimate a Cullen woman, Emmett.'

'I could still kick your ass, Alice.'

'If you could catch me first.' She stuck the tip of her tongue out at him and he laughed raucously.

'True, true!' he conceded with a chortle.

The bell put a hasty end to our conversation and I stood up, desperate for the day to be over; desperate to get home and do something else. _Anything else,_ I thought despondently.


	4. Jessica Does What Jessica Does Best

More Jessica! Sorry this is such a short chapter – I didn't have much to say, but it had to be in a different person's head! (The next chapter is longer, and we get to go back to Alice. Yay!)

I've tried to Americanise my writing as much as possible – hopefully it isn't too clunky!! I apologise for the use of the word 'crisps' in this chapter – I can manage 'Mom', 'closet', 'sidewalk' and 'parking lot', but I just can't bring myself to call them 'chips'! :D

Thanks to my amazing beta, Amanda, for her encouragement! And for not minding being bombarded with new chapters and new re-writes!

DISCLAIMER: All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer – I'm just playing with them!

***************

I shivered with delight as the bronze-haired boy swept past me towards a waiting car. He was so tall and muscled and… yummy! Though I was quite sure I had seen Lauren eyeing him up. She could be competition.

'Jess!' someone behind me sang my name. I spun around quickly, my hair fanning out around me. Lauren was approaching me, accompanied by Angela, Claire and Danielle. I smiled.

'Hey guys!'

Lauren didn't beat around the bush. 'Okay, so my house is empty until, like, eight this evening, so I was thinking we could all go back to mine and chat and stuff.'

'Sure, no problem. My mom is picking me up; she could give us a lift to yours,' I offered graciously. I didn't really want to spend too much time with Lauren; I never knew where I stood with her, but it seemed that everyone was going. It would have been rude to refuse.

'Great!'

***

Settled on Lauren's sofa, I kicked off my shoes and tucked my legs under my body. Lauren came from the kitchen with some glasses, a bottle of Coke and a couple of bags of crisps.

'So, what did we think of Forks High School?' she asked cheerfully. Everyone smiled. I think we all knew that Lauren wasn't really asking about the school.

'You mean, what did we think about the guys?' asked Danielle, giving us the unnecessary translation of Lauren's question.

She grinned. 'Yup!'

Angela ducked her head shyly and I rolled my eyes. She was always so modest; she never volunteered gossip. It was maddening!

'Did anyone find anything out about that new family?' I asked, curiosity getting the better of me.

Claire nodded. 'I had Biology with the girl. She sat next to me. Her name is Alice Cullen and she's moved here with her two brothers and the twins. She said the twins were related to her mom, but that her and her brothers are, like, adopted or something.'

'Oh, that makes sense,' I replied, pleased to know a bit about the mysterious newcomers. My mom was going to love hearing all this later; I wanted to get as much info as I could.

'Alice was in my Spanish class,' said Angela. I looked at her with surprise. 'She talked to me a bit on the way to lunch. She said that her brothers' names are Edward and Emmett and the twins are Jasper and Rosalie Hale.'

I stared, gobsmacked at Angela. 'How do you know that?'

Angela shrugged her shoulders. 'She was new so I was being friendly. I asked about her family, and that's what she told me.'

'I think Edward is the really hot one,' said Lauren.

Trust Lauren to break the mood of sharing information with a stupid comment about how attractive someone was; not that she was wrong, of course! We just hadn't got onto that yet!

'I know.' Danielle sighed with pleasure. 'He is _so_ gorgeous. I just stared at him all the way through that stupid talk the principal did.'

Claire pouted. 'I didn't have a class with him. But did you see the rest of his family at lunch? Don't you think they're, like, mega creepy?'

I totally got what she meant, but I didn't really want to admit to it in front of my main rival. There was nothing that would ruin my chance with Edward in Lauren's eyes more than my fear.

'Alice was really nice, but sort of intimidating,' said Angela quietly. 'I don't think she means to be.'

'They look like they should be in college,' said Lauren happily. 'Edward is _so_ hot.' Apparently, older guys were Lauren's new fixation.

'I bet they should be,' giggled Danielle. 'Maybe they've all been held back!'

Angela shook her head emphatically. 'No, that doesn't make sense. Alice is really smart; she knew _everything_ in Spanish. I think she's better than Mrs Goff!'

I sighed. 'Edward looks like the youngest though. He looks about seventeen, I think. The others all look about twenty.'

No one said anything, but Lauren and I looked at each other and I knew what she was thinking - I guess she probably knew what I was thinking too. Edward was the youngest; we had the best chance with him. The fact that he was also the most attractive was an added bonus. The race was on.


	5. Alice Sees Too Much and Says Too Little

More Alice!

I've tried to Americanise my writing as much as possible – hopefully it isn't too clunky!!

Thanks to my amazing beta, Amanda, for her encouragement! And for not minding being bombarded with new chapters and new re-writes!

DISCLAIMER: All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer – I'm just playing with them!

***************

Emmett looked shocked as one of the seniors approached him. I pressed my lips together as hard as I could to stop myself from giggling. Edward, walking next to me towards the cafeteria, looked at me appraisingly. I sung as loud as I could in my head; he would hear it in the girl's head soon enough – I didn't want to spoil the surprise.

Rosalie, who had been talking to Jasper, caught up to Emmett and stood next to him. The girl seemed suddenly nervous by Rosalie's presence. I wondered why she hadn't been intimidated by Emmett; most humans found him scary; his muscular frame gave more of an initial warning to stay away than the rest of us did.

Standing across the grass from Emmett, I heard the girl's voice ring clear across the open space. Next to me, Edward tensed and a small smile formed on his lips.

'Emmett?' she asked. He nodded, baffled. 'I was wondering if you wanted to go out this weekend?' Her voice barely shook and I looked at her with some respect.

Curling her arm around Emmett's, Rosalie snarled quietly. 'Actually, we are together,' she said pointedly, staring the girl down.

I winced on her behalf. The poor girl had no chance against Rosalie.

The girl stared, shocked. 'But… but… you _live_ together,' she replied.

'_So?_' replied Rosalie, venom in her voice.

'Uh… Nothing, I guess. Sorry. Bye!' The girl fled towards the cafeteria building and Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett crossed the grass to us. Try as I might, I couldn't keep a straight face.

'You!' shrieked Rosalie. 'You knew that was going to happen!'

I bit my lip and shook my head innocently. 'Of course not, Rosalie!' She stared at me, accusing.

'You did too!' she screeched. 'You knew that was going to happen, and now I've told someone about me and Emmett! You're putting the whole family in danger! I am going to _kill_ you when we get home!'

I rolled my eyes. 'Overreact, much?' I said acerbically. 'Anyway, you can't kill me, Rosalie. Don't be stupid.'

'I'll have a damn good try!'

Jasper shot to my side and curled and arm protectively around me. Rosalie must really be mad; he was overprotective of me at the best of times, but the physical contact was rare in these situations. He knew that she would never really hurt me, but she was angry enough to. That was quite scary in itself. Rosalie was not generally a particularly violent person. She preferred revenge in other ways; ways that were excruciating and lengthy.

'Rosalie,' said Edward warningly. He shot a concerned glance at Jasper, but he was still too worried about Rosalie's threat to be able to calm us down.

Rosalie was still glowering at me in a way that would have made any human want to curl up and die. Luckily, I was made of stronger stuff and I glared back.

'Rose! Don't you think you're being a tad melodramatic? Come on, let's go for a walk.' Only Emmett could have got away with a sentence like that to Rosalie. Edward relaxed next to me; she was obviously calming down.

'Perhaps it might be… uh… politic to take the rest of the day off?' said Edward pointedly.

'Let's go for a run, Rose,' suggested Emmett. 'We can head home and uh… well, I think the house is empty.' He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

'Ew,' I muttered. 'Not something I needed to hear.'

'And you weren't even hearing the x-rated version,' mumbled Edward.

Jasper let go of me as Rosalie smiled at Emmett and they headed into the trees surrounding the school. It was lucky for me that Carlisle was at the hospital and Esme was shopping in Olympia, it seemed. Not that I particularly wanted to think about the ways in which Emmett was planning on cheering Rosalie up.

'I bet that'll be all over school by now,' said Jasper, taking my hand. 'Humans seem to pass news very quickly.'

Edward looked thoughtful and then rolled his eyes. 'Yes, you were right, Jasper. It's quite a topic of gossip in the cafeteria.'

'Small town,' I said, shrugging my shoulders. 'We were always going to be a matter of interest in a place like Forks.'

I was always slightly flummoxed as to why Carlisle insisted on living in such small communities; it was a lot more difficult to hide in a town where everyone knew each other than in a place like Seattle. But I was sure Carlisle had his reasons. I filed it to the back of my mind to ask him about it another time.

Our altercation in the school grounds had taken almost the whole of the lunch period and the bell rang just as Edward, Jasper and I approached the small building housing the cafeteria.

'Algebra,' groaned Edward. 'I have a degree in Mathematics and Economics, and I have to go to a freshman algebra class.' He made a face.

'Get over it, Edward,' I said. He didn't seem to find my advice at all helpful and glared at me before stomping off in the direction of the algebra class.

Jasper pulled me to face him and stared into my eyes intensely. I smiled up at him and returned his passionate gaze. An uninvited premonition suddenly flashed in front of my eyes and I stiffened in unbridled horror.

_Jasper stared at the back of the girl's head, thirst burning in his throat, venom welling in his mouth and adrenaline pulsing through his veins. The bell rang and his eyes sparkled with lust as she rose from her seat. Taking a brief glance at the empty chair next to him that was supposed to be occupied by Emmett, he followed her out the classroom and touched her lightly on the shoulder. She turned around, shock etched across her pretty face. Her eyes widened as Jasper leaned in, whispering in her ear and running his fingertips down her throat and along her collarbone. She shivered and he guided her without much persuasion towards the woods that edged the school boundary._

I forced myself back to reality with a jolt. I didn't need to see anymore to know exactly what would happen in those secluded woods.

'I think you should go home, Jasper,' I said, nervously. He looked at me apologetically. I didn't need to say what I had seen; he knew me well enough and could read my emotions sufficiently to spot when he was about to put our family in grave danger. He nodded swiftly and squeezed my hand briefly before following Emmett and Rosalie into the woods.

I sighed languidly. It was turning into a long day.


	6. Lauren Gets Put In Her Place

Lauren this time. I hope I got into her head okay – I'm not a particularly malicious person, so I kept making her a bit too nice! (The worst character, and I write the longest chapter so far… Weird!)

I've tried to Americanise my writing as much as possible – hopefully it isn't too clunky!!

Thanks to my amazing beta, Amanda, for her encouragement! And for not minding being bombarded with new chapters and new re-writes!

DISCLAIMER: All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer – I'm just playing with them!

***************

The gossip spread around school like wildfire. I knew it would soon be a hot topic all over the town too; and I knew it would be seriously frowned upon. Things like that just didn't happen in Forks.

I wished I'd been the one to hear the scandal, but I was one of the last; the seniors didn't feel the need to pass things onto freshmen. I had heard it from Jessica who had heard two seniors talking about it in the bathroom at lunch.

Jessica Stanley! I had had to hear the biggest gossip of the last _month_ from that stupid Jessica Stanley! She was one of the most annoying people I had ever met, but she was a useful friend for shopping, movies and gossip. I had only kept talking to her because she hated the same people as I did. Plus, she was no competition to me with guys; they all preferred me. I couldn't blame them.

I passed by a window and the darkening sky outside reflected me perfectly; I stopped to check my appearance. My long, blonde hair was amazing and my clothes looked fabulous. It was just annoying that I was one of the youngest in school. In eighth grade I had been queen bee; the most popular, beautiful girl in school. Now I was a lowly freshman. I couldn't _wait_ to be a senior! But in the meantime, at least I could date the older guys; there didn't seem to be a rule about that. Though with Edward Cullen on the scene, I didn't need older guys; he was perfect, and what was more, he was so gorgeous he made my toes curl. I had such ideas for Edward Cullen…

I knew that Jessica liked him too. It was about time that she learnt she couldn't have everything she wanted. I had decided I wanted him, and there was no way that Jessica Stanley was going to stop me from getting what I wanted. No, what I _deserved_. He was the hottest guy in the freshman class, and I was the hottest girl. We were made to be together. It was just a matter of time.

***

The phone on my nightstand trilled and I dived for it. I didn't want my mom picking it up; she always wanted to know who it was, what they wanted and how long we had talked for. I was getting sick of my mother's pathetic attempts to be interested in my life. I really wished she would just butt out.

'Hello?' I said in my coolest voice.

'Lauren? It's Mike Newton.'

I smiled triumphantly; I knew Jessica liked Mike. Once again, I had got the interest of a guy she wanted. It was just the way it had always been, and the way it would always be.

'Oh, hi, Mike!' I said, making myself sound girly and excited. Guys liked it when you showed interest in them, even if it was fake. In my experience, they really couldn't tell the difference. Not the only thing they couldn't tell was being faked either!

'Uh, yeah, hi. So I was thinking about having a group trip to First Beach this weekend 'cos it's supposed to be nice weather and I don't have to work in the store. So I was thinking you could invite the girls. Jessica, Angela, Claire, Danielle.'

'Oh Mike, that's such a great idea!' I said breathlessly. 'I'll call round this evening. Which guys are going?'

'Uh, me, Tyler, Eric, Ben, Connor. My dad and Tyler's mom have said they'll take us and pick us up, so we're all going to meet outside our store at ten am on Saturday.'

'Great! I'll let everyone know. Can't wait! See you at school tomorrow!' I enthused.

'Uh, yeah. Bye, Lauren.' Mike hung up the phone with a click and I smiled happily. I would invite all the girls, except Jessica, and I would call the Cullens. I bet Edward would be excited to be invited by me. Though I supposed I would have to invite Alice too.

For the first time in ages, I felt nervous about calling a guy. Maybe I was starting to understand what Claire had said about the Cullens being creepy. Maybe I was just being pathetic! I picked up the phone and dialled.

'Hello, Cullen residence, Carlisle speaking.'

'Uh, hello. My name is Lauren Mallory, I go to Forks High School. Could I speak to Edward, please?' I was embarrassed to notice that my voice was shaking.

'Oh!' said Carlisle, clearly surprised. 'I didn't know Edward had made friends at the school. He's right here. Please hold on for a moment, Lauren.'

'Hello,' said Edward's smooth, lilting voice. I had never spoken to him before, and I felt my stomach flutter at the sound of his voice; it was like sinking into a bubble bath.

'Hello Edward, it's Lauren Mallory,' I stammered. 'I'm in your English class.'

'I know who you are. Do you need help with the essay?' he asked tersely.

Damn, that essay! I'd forgotten all about it and I still hadn't read the sonnets.

'Uh, no. I was wondering if you wanted to go to the beach with a group of us this weekend; we're going to head to La Push and go to First Beach. It's supposed to be nice weather and Mike doesn't have to work like he normally does, so we thought we'd go and have a picnic and stuff and…' I realised I was rambling and stopped abruptly. I was managing to sound like a complete idiot.

'Thank you for the offer, Lauren, but my family and I are camping this weekend. Goodbye.'

He put the phone down and I stared, bemused, at the handset. He would rather go camping with his family than to the beach with people from school? That was just weird.

I sighed and started to dial the next number. I had three people to invite, and it would soon be time for dinner.

***

I had the strangest feeling that Edward was staring at me. Sat across the cafeteria, I could feel his eyes on the back of my head. I knew he would come to regret saying no to the trip! I smiled in triumph at the way my plan was working. I hadn't invited Jessica as a precaution; if Edward didn't go, she could be invited last minute, but I couldn't un-invite her if he decided to go.

'Lauren, are you going to eat that?' asked Danielle pointedly. She was such a pig. I had no idea how she managed to be so skinny. I bet she threw everything up after lunch.

'No, go ahead.' I pushed my tray with the uneaten food towards her, removing the Diet Coke and taking a sip. I was too nervous to eat. I had a class with Edward next, and I was sure he was going to ask if he could come. I was glad I had dressed in my best outfit.

The bell rang and I saw Edward walk past me. I excused myself to go to the bathroom and hurried out the cafeteria. He was waiting just outside the main door, lounging against the wall but before I could approach him, he stopped Mike Newton, who was just ahead of me.

'Mike, can I talk to you for a moment?' he said, gripping Mike's arm. Mike look startled.

I didn't hear any more; it would have been too obvious to stop and listen, and I dashed as quickly as I could to the bathroom. My head was spinning. Why was Edward talking to Mike? Unless he'd found out that it was Mike that was organising the trip to the beach. He must be asking Mike if he could come with us! Yes, that had to be it. I smiled at myself in the mirror, flicked my hair and headed to Algebra.

***

I walked towards the gym as slowly as I could, hoping that Edward would come to talk to me before class to tell me that he'd changed his mind. I could just picture it in my head; he would come with us to the beach, we would sneak off and go for a walk together. We would find a secluded spot and he would pull me close to him. We would tumble to the ground and he would…

'Lauren!' My daydreams were interrupted by a voice calling my name. I whipped round. Edward was following me across the tarmac and I stopped, forcing myself not to break into a huge grin.

'Edward, hi,' I said when he had caught up to me. He had the strangest look on his face, like he could smell something bad.

'Lauren, I wanted to talk to you. I know that you didn't invite Jessica on the beach trip.'

I stared, open-mouthed. Of all the things I was expecting him to say, that didn't even make the list. How did he know about that?

'Uh..'

'I also know _why_ you didn't invite her,' he told me. I felt my entire face go red. How could he possibly know? 'I thought I had better let you know that I am never going to be interested in you, Lauren, so you have no need to waste your time. Have a nice day.'

He walked away and I gazed after him, astounded. It took me a minute to realise, due to my shock over his revelation, that I had been rejected, outright, by Edward Cullen. I felt tears prick at the corner of my eyes and my plans for the day disappeared out of my head. I headed towards the gates and started to walk home, tears streaming down my face.


	7. Mike Goes to the Beach

It's difficult for me to be in Mike's head… I'm not a boy. (Though why I find Edward quite easy, I have no idea!) Hopefully he makes sense, anyway!

I've tried to Americanise my writing as much as possible – hopefully it isn't too clunky!!

Thanks to my amazing beta, Amanda, for her encouragement! And for not minding being bombarded with new chapters and new re-writes!

DISCLAIMER: All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer – I'm just playing with them!

***************

Edward Cullen was really creepy. He had grabbed me, literally, after class to tell me that Lauren hadn't invited Jessica to the beach and that I should do it that afternoon. Then he had disappeared without explaining anything. I was embarrassed to admit that he had scared me; he had this way of looking at you that made you want to turn and run. I couldn't understand why all the girls were so crazy about him. I had invited Jessica, careful not to mention that she should have been invited by Lauren; Jessica Stanley was nice and I didn't want to hurt her feelings. She seemed really pleased to be invited. It was looking like it would be a good weekend.

***

Saturday was really bright and the sun was just visible through gaps in the clouds. It was going to be a really nice day. I hummed to myself as I pulled on my shorts, t-shirt and a thin jumper. I couldn't wait to get to the beach.

I lounged against the car, waiting for everyone else to show up. Tyler and his mom were the first to arrive. Mrs Crowley smiled at me and disappeared inside to talk to my dad about the day. Tyler bounded up to me, grinning widely.

'Mike!' he called.

'Hey, Tyler,' I replied. 'You good?'

'Yeah, I'm good. The beach is gonna be great!' I nodded in agreement. It was nice to see people outside school; the walls of Forks High School weren't the most exciting environment.

'Is Lauren coming?' Tyler asked out of nowhere.

I nodded, confused. What had he heard? I hadn't said anything to anyone about what Cullen had told me. 'Yeah, I invited her. I got her to invite some of the girls.'

Tyler's eyes lit up. 'Cool! Which girls are coming?'

I mentally rolled my eyes. Tyler thought he was such a ladies' man. I was pretty sure he was hoping Lauren could be there because he liked her. Or, at least, he was hoping she would like him. Lauren had a bit of a reputation for being easy, even in eighth grade.

'Umm… Lauren, Jessica, Angela and Danielle. Claire couldn't come.'

'Cool…' Tyler looked thoughtful. He paused and looked at me nervously. 'Uh, Mike?' he asked tentatively.

'Yeah?' I was only half listening. Danielle had just appeared around the corner, and she was wearing a skirt so short it barely covered her ass and showed an awful lot of long, shapely leg.

'Do you think Lauren likes me?' asked Tyler, clearly oblivious to Danielle and her legs.

'Hi, Mike!' called Danielle. 'Hey, Tyler.'

Tyler looked embarrassed. 'Never mind,' he muttered to me. 'Hey Danielle!' he called brightly. I saw him notice her legs and he glanced at me, wide-eyed.

'I know,' I whispered, grinning.

'Mike, I dunno if Lauren's coming. She said she wasn't feeling well.' Danielle informed me. 'She seemed a bit weird on the phone. But she didn't say if she was coming or not.'

I shrugged. 'Okay, no problem.'

***

We pulled up to First Beach and everyone piled out of the two cars. The guys unloaded the stuff from the back and we headed out onto the sand. We settled around the camp fire, using the driftwood benches to drop our stuff on.

'I love the beach,' said Angela, stretching out on the sand.

'Ew, you're getting sand in your hair! You're going to get sand bugs in it!' squealed Danielle. I liked Danielle, she was nice, but she was a bit blonde sometimes. Though those legs more than made up for what she lacked in brain cells.

'Danielle, there are no such things as 'sand bugs', you know,' said Ben, shaking his head in disbelief. She pouted at him and flicked her hair in reply.

'Hey, guys, where's Lauren?' asked Jessica. I gulped nervously. I didn't know if Cullen had spoken to her, and I felt bad spreading rumours. On the other hand, she had been really horrible by not inviting Jessica.

'Well, I wasn't really supposed to say anything,' began Danielle. Seemed like I was off the hook when it came to explanations. 'But I saw Edward Cullen talk to her before gym on Thursday and then she just left school. It kinda looked like she was, like, crying. Which is weird, 'cos Lauren never cries.'

'She was talking to Edward?' asked Jessica, startled. 'Why was she talking to Edward?'

Danielle grinned widely. 'She called to invite me to this trip and said she'd invited him, but his family were going camping this weekend. Maybe he was inviting her.'

Tyler, Ben and I burst into hysterical laughter. 'Lauren! Camping!' spluttered Ben. 'Now _that_ I'd love to see!'

'Hey, if Edward Cullen told her to jump off a cliff, she'd probably do it,' said Angela, rolling her eyes.

'I know _I_ would,' breathed Danielle.

'Yeah,' Jessica sighed.

I looked at Ben, who looked at Tyler, who looked at Eric, who looked at Connor, who looked back at me. I shrugged. Girls were weird.

'Let's play soccer,' suggested Tyler.

The girls stayed by the campfire as we set up the goal posts down the beach. We had an odd number, but that was okay; we were going to improvise.

The game was in full swing when we were interrupted by five guys heading towards us down the beach. They were from the reservation, and I didn't recognise any of them, though I'd been to First Beach often enough. I was sort of ashamed to admit it, but I found it hard to tell them apart; they all seemed to have long hair and mocha coloured skin.

'Mind if we join in?' asked one of the visitors. He looked like the oldest of the group. Three of them looked younger than we did; they couldn't have been older than 12. Ben was the first to answer.

'Sure, no problem. You even the numbers up. Us versus you?'

'Sounds good. I'm Sam, this is Paul, Jacob, Embry and Quil.'

I nodded and smiled. 'I'm Mike, this is Ben, Tyler, Connor and Eric.'

The visitors were good, but we were better. We played furiously for half an hour until the sun brightened and got in our eyes. Or that was Eric's excuse, anyway. He was probably just embarrassed about how badly he'd been playing. Sports weren't really his thing, but he couldn't stand the ribbing we gave him if he sat out with the girls.

'I'm starving,' moaned Tyler. 'Let's go and eat.'

***

The girls had spread the food out on a blanket and we lounged around chatting. Danielle perked up at the sight of the new arrivals; she was so predictable. I grinned.

'These are the girls. They didn't want to play soccer with us. This is Jessica, Danielle and Angela.'

Everyone sat around the campfire and helped themselves to the food. No one said anything and the silence was uncomfortable. I had no idea what to say with our visitors there; I guessed no one else did either.

'So, you guys go to school on the reservation?' asked Jessica. She seemed to be the only one who had the courage to speak. Or something to say.

'Yeah,' replied one of the young guys; I had no idea which one. 'It's not so bad. La Push isn't a bad place to live. It's nice to have the beach so close. I haven't seen you guys here before. Do you come here a lot?'

'Of course you haven't seen them here before, Jake! You have no life!' teased another Quileute boy.

'Look who's talking, Embry,' said Jake, sticking his tongue out at his friend.


	8. Angela Eats Cookies

Oddly enough, it was almost as difficult for me to be in Angela's head as in Lauren's! Though this time I kept wanting her to be horrible about people, before realising that there were some things she would just never say!

I've tried to Americanise my writing as much as possible – hopefully it isn't too clunky!!

Thanks to my amazing beta, Amanda, for her encouragement! And for not minding being bombarded with new chapters and new re-writes!

DISCLAIMER: All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer – I'm just playing with them!

***************

The boys came back from playing football with five new people. They looked to be from the reservation and, like our boys, they were all sweaty from the exertion of the game.

Mike went round and introduced us girls to the newcomers. I smiled at them; they looked nice, and it wouldn't hurt to be kind to them. Technically, we were on their land.

Everyone helped themselves to food but we had all gone quiet. I didn't mind the silence so much, but I knew others were finding it uncomfortable. Jessica was shifting uneasily in her seat next to me. She asked a question of the boys and they started to tease each other. The quiet disappeared as quickly as it had come, and everyone fell back into easy chatter.

'So, anyway,' said Jessica, continuing the conversation we had been having before the boys returned. She had been discussing Lauren's no-show on the beach trip and had been quite malicious. I had no problem with Lauren and it seemed a bit unnecessary to talk about her like that, but I listened politely anyway, not wanting to upset Jessica any more than I wanted to upset Lauren.

'…She's really, like, _obsessed_ with getting Edward Cullen, and if Danielle said she saw her talking to him…' Jessica paused to stare at one of the Quileute buys who had made a quiet noise of derision at Edward Cullen's name.

Mike looked at him quizzically. 'Do you know the Cullens?'

The individual conversations that had been taking place around the circle stopped as everyone subconsciously leaned in to hear the Quileute's response.

'Yes, we know the Cullens,' said the boy, whose name I remembered was Sam.

The boy next to him rolled his eyes. 'I can't believe you actually believe it,' scoffed Sam's friend.

'You should pay more attention, Paul,' reprimanded Sam. 'It's important.'

'Uh, what?' asked Mike, curiosity clearly getting the better of him. He wasn't the only confused one. I could see bewildered expressions on the faces of most of our friends.

'Nothing,' said Sam, a little more curtly than was perhaps strictly necessary.

Mike looked put out at the snub. 'Oh… okay.'

'How Just tribe stuff,' said Jacob with a grin and a shrug. 'Nothing important.'

Mike dropped the subject and struck up a conversation about sports teams with the other boys and I quickly lost track of the conversation. I glanced around the circle at the Quileute boys. No one else seemed to have noticed, but none of them seemed entirely comfortable. One of the younger boys squirmed in his seat and Sam threw him a glance.

'I think we should go,' Sam announced suddenly, clearly leaving the other boys with no choice as to their departure. 'We have things to be doing.'

Paul rolled his eyes at Sam's back. 'Sure, let's go, _sir_,' he mumbled. It was Paul's turn to receive a glance and the Quileute boys set off down the beach without a word. Jacob turned, waved and shrugged his shoulders in apology. But our group had already forgotten about the incident.

'What time are we being picked up?' Ben Cheney asked Mike. He looked worried, and I instantly felt bad for him. Ben was so nice. I had always liked him; in fact, I had a bit of a crush on him. It was just a shame that he was so much shorter than me. I had been conditioned to think that boys should be taller than girls, and I thought it would bother him too much to go on a date with me. Not that I thought he would ever be interested in me. I was just too plain and boring. Not like Jessica and Lauren, who were full of life and enthusiasm.

'Uh, about three. Why? You have to be back for something?'

'Yeah, we're supposed to be going out for dinner tonight. Celebrating my dad's new job. But if we're leaving at three, I've got loads of time.'

'So where do you think Lauren got to?' Jessica posed to the circle. She clearly wasn't going to let it go. I thought she seemed like she was secretly rejoicing about Lauren's non-appearance; they seemed to have a very strange relationship from where I was standing, and I suspected that there was quite a lot of unspoken rivalry between them. Jessica had been particularly exultant that Mike had asked her on the trip personally, especially when I told her that it had been mentioned to me by Lauren. I didn't like to point out that Lauren had been asked to call the girls by Mike.

Connor shrugged noncommittally. 'I dunno.' He didn't like Lauren very much, I knew. I guessed he was as pleased that Lauren wasn't with us as Jessica was.

'Something came up, I guess. Didn't she tell Danielle she wasn't feeling well?' said Tyler.

'But don't you think it's interesting?' asked Jessica eagerly.

'No!' said Mike. 'Come on, who wants to play Frisbee?'

Jessica swallowed hard and looked down at the ground. I thought I could see tears pricking in the corners of her eyes. I touched her knee sympathetically and she gave me a small smile.

***

Three o'clock came around quickly and we piled into the cars. The ride back to the Newtons' store was relatively quiet in comparison to the noise we had been making on the beach. Parents made people nervous, I had noticed. Especially my dad. Tyler's mom was not as imposing, but still caused the general chatter to become a lot more subdued. Mrs Crowley asked me questions about school as we made the short trip from La Push back to Forks.

We pulled up outside the Newtons' and everyone spilled out of the cars. Ben immediately rushed home and the rest of us lounged outside the store.

'Anyone want to do something now?' asked Mike.

Jessica shook her head imperceptibly and gave me a small smile. 'I should get home,' she said quietly. 'I have stuff to do.' She disappeared around the corner.

'I should go after her,' I told the group. They may not mind seeing Jessica so subdued, but I knew that something was obviously wrong. Waving at the guys and Danielle, I hurried after Jessica.

'Jess, wait!' I called as soon as she was in sight. She slowed, but didn't turn around. 'Jess, are you okay?' I asked when I had caught up to her. She shrugged her shoulders.

'I guess.'

'Come on, let's go to my house. My mom bakes cookies on Saturdays with the twins.'

We headed towards my house and I let Jessica into the kitchen through the back door. My mom was sat at the large island counter in the centre of the kitchen with the twins. Flour was scattered all over the surface and I could taste icing sugar in the air. Both twins were covered in flour and cake mix.

'Angela!' said Isaac happily as I came through the door. He gave me a toothy grin and waved a floury hand. Joshua mimicked Isaac's wave and grinned.

'Hi! Hi, Mom!' I called back cheerfully. I loved the twins and I was always happy to see them. They were so lovely. But I didn't think Jessica was really in the mood for two boisterous 6 year old boys. 'Can we have some of your delicious cookies?' I asked the twins. They nodded enthusiastically and I took a plate out of a cupboard and took a few cookies from the cooling rack. They were slightly warm still, and the chocolate chips melted to my fingers as I transferred them. I poured two glasses of juice and motioned for Jessica to follow me up to my room.

She settled herself in the middle of my neatly made bed. Tears pricked in the corners of her eyes and I passed her a small box of tissues from my dressing table along with a glass of juice and the plate of cookies. She took a large bite from a cookie and then blew her nose loudly. I waited patiently for her to talk and she eventually looked up at me, blinking through her tears.

'I don't even know why I'm upset!' she wailed. I held off on adding any comments. She seemed like she just needed to rant at me. 'It's just that it really bothered me when Mike said he wasn't interested in me! Everyone's always interested in me!'

I mentally rolled my eyes at Jessica's self-absorbed comment. She had an entirely different world view to me, but that didn't mean that it was any less valid. Her world revolved around herself in a way that mine didn't, but that was probably more normal.

'I'm sure he didn't mean to be quite so unkind,' I said in a soothing voice. 'He was probably just looking forward to playing ball some more. You know what boys are like.'

Jessica sniffed, but seemed appeased. 'Maybe you're right,' she conceded.

I smiled. 'Should we call Lauren?' I asked. 'We should find out if everything is okay.'

Jessica's face lit up at the thought of solving the mystery and she put her head against the phone to listen in.

'Hello?' said a small voice. It didn't sound much like Lauren.

'Uh, hi Lauren, it's Angela,' I said gently.

'Oh, hi, Angela. How's it going?'

'Fine, I'm fine. We missed you at the beach today,' I said, getting straight to the point. 'We were expecting you. Why didn't you come?' There was a long pause.

'I'm not feeling well,' she replied.

'Oh, that's a shame.' I shook my head at Jessica who was motioning insistently, wanting me to ask Lauren about Edward Cullen. She pouted at me, looking, I noticed, a lot perkier. Jessica couldn't resist gossip, but I didn't feel like pressing the issue with Lauren. Jessica rolled her eyes and prised the phone out of my hands.

'Hi Lauren, it's Jess!' she trilled into the handset. 'Are you feeling better?'

I waited with bated breath as Jessica paused for the answer; Jessica was not known for her tact and I dreaded how she would ask about Edward.

'Aww, that sucks,' said Jessica sympathetically. 'Oh, you'll never guess who we were talking about at the beach!' she exclaimed. 'Edward Cullen! Danielle said you were talking to him at school on Thursday, did you? I can't believe you got to talk to him!'

I stared, open-mouthed. Jessica Stanley was the biggest gossip I had ever met and her tact was almost nil! She was a nice person, but she seriously needed to work on her delicacy.

'Oh, okay,' said Jessica, her face falling. 'Well, I guess I'd better get home. See you on Monday, Lauren! Bye!'

Jessica made a face at me as I waited for Lauren's response. 'She dropped a book, and he picked it up for her. And then she felt ill, so she went home. How boring is that?' Jessica rolled her eyes. 'Rubbish.'

'Uh… yeah,' I replied, unsure as to the best way to answer. I thought it was a shame that Lauren was ill, and nice that Edward Cullen had helped her out. Boring would not have been my first choice of adjective.

'Anyway, I should get home. So I'll see you at school on Monday.'

'Yeah, okay. Bye, Jess.'

I stared after Jessica in amazement as she bounced out my room and down the stairs. I would never understand the way her mind worked; I just found her odd.

I shook my head indulgently and followed her downstairs with the used crockery. Perhaps I could help Mom and the twins finish up in the kitchen.


	9. Edward Contemplates His Existence

Ah, Edward again! Only one more chapter after this… :-(

I've tried to Americanise my writing as much as possible – hopefully it isn't too clunky!!

Thanks to my amazing beta, Amanda, for her encouragement! And for not minding being bombarded with new chapters and new re-writes!

DISCLAIMER: All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer – I'm just playing with them!

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I approached the house and sighed as Alice opened the door to me. She greeted me with a dazzling smile that I knew could only mean trouble.

_Time for school!_ she trilled at me in her head. She managed to convey exactly the same annoying tone as if she had said it out loud. Or perhaps I was just so used to it that I heard it every time she spoke to me. I didn't know. And I didn't care. She had spoken (albeit mentally) the dreaded word. School.

We had been at Forks High School for almost a month now, and I met each new dawn with the same amount of trepidation and unbridled loathing as I had on the very first day.

'I'm not going,' I hissed between clenched teeth.

_Try telling that to Esme,_ she said, her wide grin stretching even further. She enjoyed watching me suffer, I knew she did. She claimed that she was more interested in how I interacted with humans, but I remained firmly unconvinced. She delighted in my pain.

Alice rolled her eyes at me, as though she knew exactly what I was thinking. Which she probably did. My favourite sister knew me best out of all my siblings, and she more often than not knew my thoughts as soon as I did, despite the fact that I was the one with the gift of mind reading.

_Don't you want to find out what happened at the beach?_ Alice asked.

I had filled Alice and Carlisle in on what had transpired between myself and Lauren Mallory. Alice, of course, had foreseen the whole thing and so I felt it only right to fill her in on the details she didn't know. When it came to Carlisle… I had discovered very early into my relationship with the older vampire that it was almost impossible to hide things from him. I felt it best, however, not to share the information with Rosalie, who would be contemptuous and mocking, Jasper, who would be bemused by the actions of humans that he did not understand, Emmett, who would have found the whole event hilarious, or Esme, who would have been sympathetic to the point of tears.

I shook my head. 'I'm not interested in the whims and follies of humans,' I informed her with a tone of superiority. 'Every human is the same, and I have absolutely no fascination with their childish worries.'

Alice rolled her eyes again. _Edward, you are the most annoyingly superior vampire. If you don't get interested soon, you're going to die of boredom at school. Or possibly just waste away in to condescending nothingness._

_Edward! I would like to speak with you, if you have a moment. _Carlisle's voice broke through Alice's and I smiled at my sister, glad of the opportunity to escape.

I sped through the house and barely paused outside the door to Carlisle's study before throwing the door open. He had been careful not to think about the conversation he was to have with me on my way to his room and so I was, for a change, completely in the dark.

_Edward. I wanted to have a word with you before you left for school._ I nodded. That much was obvious; it wasn't like Carlisle to beat around the bush.

_I wanted to speak to you, in fact, about school. About how you intend to handle the Mallory girl. I feel you must be very careful; you risk giving too much away if you are indelicate. It would also be best not to upset the girl further; you do not wish to draw too much attention to yourself._

I grimaced. That stupid girl was going to make things difficult. I could not work out if she would try to interact with me any more than she already had. 'Mmm,' I responded indistinctly.

_Edward, please take this seriously. I know you do not wish for any further attention to be lavished upon you, but you must realise that humans can be extremely erratic in their behaviour. You cannot rely upon the fact that your talk with her will have loosened all attachment she may have felt to you._

'I know,' I muttered, more to stop Carlisle's oration than due to actual interest. Humans were, and I had spent decades confirming the suspicion so I knew it to be entirely true, extremely stupid. We were designed to attract our prey, I knew, but so much about us screamed danger, that it surprised me some humans could form attachments to vampires. Esme had, of course, when she had first met Carlisle in the hospital when she was sixteen, but she was unusual. Or at least so I had assumed. I knew that most humans were uncomfortable near us, but that didn't stop them finding us attractive.

Lauren, however, had been quite close to me, and had seemingly suffered no ill effects, no fear, from my proximity. Mike Newton, on the other hand, had been positively disturbed by my closeness, I had been enormously satisfied to note.

'Edward?' Carlisle asked, interrupting my reverie. I had been so caught up in my own contemplations that he had had to speak out loud to acquire my attention. That was unusual, and I was slightly embarrassed to realise it. These humans had me more intrigued than I cared to admit, especially to Alice.

'Sorry, Carlisle. I was just… thinking.'

Carlisle smiled gently. 'That much was obvious. Now you should go. Esme is waiting to take you to school.'

***

I whiled away the time in the car (Esme drove annoyingly slowly, even when the roads were empty. She was so determined to retain our human appearance it infuriated me.) by contemplating my dilemma with the humans. I had resolved not to do anything unless I felt it was necessary just as we pulled up to the school gates. Esme dropped us off with a cheery 'Have a good day', which Rosalie, Jasper and I groaned at, and disappeared around the corner. I envied her freedom to do whatever she wanted.

'Come on, Edward!' sang Alice, slipping her arm through mine. 'It's going to be fun today, I just know it!'

I looked down at the diminutive vampire next to me. 'Do you know that, or _know_ that?' I asked, the emphasis making my meaning clear.

She grinned. 'Nope, no _knowing_ in it. Call it human intuition.' She over-emphasised the word in a ridiculous imitation of me and grinned. I was getting sick of that perceptive smirk. 'Come on, it's time for American History!' Only Alice could get so excited about learning things we'd not only been taught a hundred times, but lived through.

***

I sat lifelessly in my seat as I was taught, for the tenth or eleventh time (I didn't care enough to be specific, even though I knew the exact number and dates of each lesson), about the American War of Independence. You'd have thought that even the humans would be able to absorb the knowledge after being taught the same thing in Middle School, but from the answers my fellow students were giving, apparently not.

I let my mind wander around the school, curious against my better judgement to see how Lauren Mallory was faring after our altercation. Her mind was simple, immature and self-absorbed to a point which repulsed me, but I had had not had direct interaction with humans in so long, that I was intrigued on a purely selfish level.

_I know that Tyler likes me. So I'll have to see if I can get him to ask me out. Just because Edward Cullen fails to see how amazing I am, doesn't mean that any of the other guys can't see it. And since they found out that that weird blonde Cullen girl is with that other Cullen guy (oh my God, that's freaky. They're like, related.) they are _so _going to like me better. It's just a matter of time._

My mouth dropped open involuntarily as I heard Lauren's thoughts. She had completely glossed over the incident with me as psychosis on my part! If I hadn't heard it from her own head, I would never have believed it. I just served to reinforce my belief in the utter stupidity of humans.

***

The bell rang and I gladly left the boy's changing rooms. I had arranged to meet Alice after we had both got dressed and so I lounged against the wall next to the door that led to the girl's locker room, doing an excellent impression of a bored teenage boy (even though I do say so myself). Alice took almost as long to change back into an outfit as she did to choose it in the morning. I should know; I had had over fifty years of waiting for her.

'I'm here! Let's go to lunch!' said Alice as she emerged through the door. She pulled up the hood of her jacket as protection against the fine rain and set off towards the cafeteria.

As we walked, I filled her in on what I had heard in Lauren's mind during American History. Alice reacted with far less surprise than I had, I was aggravated to note.

_It was a crush, Edward, there's no need to be so annoyed that she doesn't like you anymore. I always knew you secretly liked the attention. _She grinned and I narrowed my eyes at my sister in intense frustration. She was such a know-it-all.

***

'I am so bored, I might die,' said Rosalie passionately as we got into the car with Esme. 'If I have to listen to them going on about how the Americans saved everyone's skins in both World Wars one more time, I'm going to go on a killing spree, just to impede my boredom.'

Esme inhaled sharply and turned to stare daggers at her adopted daughter. 'Do not even joke about things like that, Rosalie Lillian Hale,' she scolded.

I chuckled. 'If it's death you're looking for, I'm sure I can help you,' I told Rosalie, smirking at her. She reached over and punched me in the arm, a little harder than was strictly necessary.

'Edward!' Esme admonished. 'Don't antagonise Rosalie.'

_We all need to go hunting. Everyone is getting tetchy and irritable again._

'Charming,' I muttered, letting Esme know that I had been eavesdropping. She found us difficult to deal with when we started to rebel, however slightly, against Carlisle's chosen lifestyle. We didn't really begrudge it, except perhaps Jasper, but there were times when going through high school for what felt like the hundredth time made the lives of 'real' vampires look appealing.

_How did it go? _asked Carlisle as soon as he heard the six of us approaching the house. I sighed lengthily and made my way to his study to fill him in on the less than scintillating events of the day.


	10. Epilogue

The last chapter! :-( But to soften the blow a little, it's Edward again! Yay!

Thanks to my amazing beta, Amanda, for her encouragement! And for not minding being bombarded with new chapters and new re-writes!

DISCLAIMER: All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer – I'm just playing with them!

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**Epilogue**

Things had definitely not changed at Forks High School. Sophomore year could easily have been Freshman year. The material was different, but the teachers, the students and the ridiculous things in their heads had not changed. I was sick of Forks. Sick of high school. And, most of all, sick of eternity. I sighed loudly as Rosalie drove us to school in the Volvo.

_There you go again with your sighing, _thought Alice with a giggle. _You know, they should make sighing an Olympic sport; you'd be gold medal winner every time._

I growled quietly under my breath and she giggled again.

'Stop winding Edward up,' said Jasper gently from his seat on the other side of Alice.

'Nah, ignore Jasper,' said Emmett, full of high spirits. 'Wind Edward up. It's fun!' He twisted around from the passenger seat to grin at me. I narrowed my eyes; favourite brother or not, Emmett could be incredibly annoying.

'He's just annoyed about being in high school again,' said Alice.

'Aren't we all?' muttered Rosalie.

We had arrived in the parking lot and everyone spilled out of the car. With vampire grace, of course. Alice linked her arm in mine as we made our way towards the school

_Sorry, I shouldn't be so mean, Edward. But you're being very childish, you know. And anyway, we've already had a month of sophomore year. Graduation will be here before you know it._

'I know, I know,' I sighed. Alice grinned at me and I rolled my eyes. And she accused _me_ of being childish.

I had been silent in the car on the way home. My mind was entirely preoccupied by what I had heard in the mind of Jessica Stanley. She had decided (_again_, much to my irritation) that she fancied me.

I had had no problems with Lauren Mallory since my conversation with her a month into freshman year, but Jessica seemed to come back to me with increasing regularity. Not that she had ever said anything to me about it; I intimidated her too much, but I was sick of hearing her childish fantasies. There was only so many times that you could see yourself seducing someone in their mind; especially someone that you had absolutely no romantic feelings for whatsoever. In fact, I had more romantic feelings for most _rocks_ than I had for Jessica Stanley.

I explained all this to Alice when we got home, more than usually aware of the annoyance and frustration in my voice.

_It'll pass, Edward. You don't need to do anything this time. It's a stupid human crush, and you'll be free from her before the year is out. Trust me._

I grimaced at the thought that I might have to wait nearly half a year before I drifted out of Jessica's mind. 'Thanks, Alice,' I said. 'That's sort of reassuring.'

She smiled serenely. _No problem, Edward, _she said as she disappeared to find Jasper.

I was going to go mad in Forks High School. Slowly but surely, I was going to mad from boredom. The prospect of another day tomorrow stared me in the face and I wished, not for the first time, that it wasn't even more boring if I left the family. I knew from experience that I was much better off when they were around, but I wished I didn't have to do all the annoying charades that went along with it.

What make it so easy for the others to be content living in this way? I wondered, not for the first time, or the last I suspected, if Esme was right. If it _was_ my lack of a companion, a soul mate. Maybe if I had someone to share eternity with, eternity wouldn't be such a depressing prospect.

I shook my head obstinately. I just couldn't accept that another person would make my existence meaningful. No, Esme had to be wrong.

_Edward! Do you want to come hunting?_ Emmett's thought interrupted my reverie and I jumped up from my sofa gladly. Hunting with my favourite brother was just the thing to take my mind off high school. I raced down the stairs with rare enthusiasm and headed out into the dusk.

The next day dawned grey and drizzly. Despite Alice's assurances that I was wrong, I had been hoping for sunshine; the possibility of legitimately missing school was incredibly appealing. But Esme refused to let me for any reason other than sun. She was taking the high school charade much too far, in my opinion.

I sat at the back in English as usual, hardly listening to Mr Mason talk about the use of disguises and secrecy in _Twelfth Night._ Next to me, Alice was finding his lecture about hiding identities hilarious, but I couldn't have cared less.

The inane thoughts of my classmates swirled around me, each human the same. There was no variety in the ideas, no surprises to be found in the minds. I wondered idly if I would ever find a human who could surprise me, interest me, hold me. I doubted it.

I sank further into my seat and drifted, unsure if this purgatory would ever end.

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I hope you've enjoyed reading this – I had a lot of fun writing it! Please review if you liked it. And also if you have any constructive criticism to offer. :D

Thanks for reading!

happypinkfairy


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